Had a little chat with My Favorite Lobbyist yesterday. MFL is predicting that the dread sequester is going to happen this time (for serious—we can’t be wrong twice on this, can we?), and providers are going to get a 2 percent cut.

MFL also said that the GOP is laying some plots: Next week, House Republicans may introduce a bill that would give federal agencies the authority to cut their own budgets in response to the sequester. It wouldn’t change the 2 percent cut.

But the thinking is, such a bill might muster enough budget-conscious Dems to get through the Senate, and then it will be the administration’s turn to squirm. Republicans are already poring through line items in the agencies, salivating at the prospect of asking agency directors in public hearings, “You cut this but not that?”